"An informative and amusing book. The author collected a treasury of stories and reflections connected with comparison, rating and ranking from the widest possible area of sports, arts, sciences, politics, media and shopping, just to mention a few. The book's main concern is not how to rank, but rather how and in what extent ranking can be avoided."
-- Scientometrics
"Péter Érdi's book was not a risk-free venture. It deserves a lot of success, since it has a large literary immersion, but does not hide the opinions of others."
-- Magyar Tudomány
"Drawing upon a remarkable range of disciplines, field studies, and historical insights, Érdi expertly reveals the hidden social and cognitive dynamics that inform our never-ending hunger to assign metrics to social life. With great nuance and a keen eye for detail, Érdi takes us through how supposedly straightforward processes of measurement, comparison, prioritization, and reputation management are fraught with bias and complex hidden social
values. Ranking is an analytical tour-de-force and a joy to read, going straight to the top of my list of indispensable works on social hierarchy."
-- Alexander Cooley, Director, Harriman Institute, Columbia University
"As my grandmother used to say, if your actions are based on comparisons with others, you'll never enjoy life. But as Ranking shows -- with lucid examples from practically every sphere of human endeavor -- we humans can't help but compare ourselves to others. So who's the best at revealing the principles and mechanisms that underpin the ubiquitous tendency to compare? The pantomathic Péter Érdi, that's who! Érdi's book, written
with insight and humor, is a delightful read. I learned a lot from it, as will any individual or organization interested in this enduring aspect of the human condition-in comparing better and choosing wisely."
-- - J. A. Scott Kelso, Glenwood and Martha Creech Eminent Scholar in Science, Florida Atlantic University; Professor Emeritus of Computational Neuroscience, Ulster University
"Most parents know their children are above average-sure proof of the subjectivity of ratings. With a light touch, combining personal experience, findings from biology and sociology and more, and with witty asides, Péter Érdi explains why Top 10 Lists fascinate us, and how to temper subjectivity with hard data when ratings and rankings truly matter."
-- Michael Arbib, Author and Editor of more than forty books, from his pioneering Brains, Machines, and Mathematics to How the Brain Got Language: The Mirror System Hypothesis
"Rankings are essential in our lives-they determine the education we receive, the jobs we qualify for, the books we read, and the music we listen to. In Ranking, Péter Érdi's vivid prose brings us the science of rankings. Using examples from politics to culture, he shows how these patterns determine who wins and who loses the ranking game."
-- Albert-László Barabási, Professor of Network Science, Northeastern University and Harvard Medical School; author of The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success
"Peter Érdi's recent, science-based, but still highly personal book titled Ranking is a must-read to everyone who wishes to avoid being overly depressed by some unfavorable ranking result. First, a bit of humor always helps accept harsh reality. Second, and much more important, the reader will certainly sharpen her or his skills to find specific reasons in any ranking system to prove that the methodology leading to the unwelcome final result is
totally unjust. And finally, the book helps develop an increased tolerance toward the fact that the unjust ranking methods are still widely used to aid decision making."
-- Reaction Kinetics, Mechanisms and Catalysis
"Ultimately, [Ranking] is a call to think more critically about objectivity and subjectivity in a society where we are so invested in ranking everything from colleges to job performances, sport teams, and tourist attractions."
-- Choice
"The author emphasizes that the objectivity of ranking is often illusory and subject to manipulation. Yet, most rankings, whether based on human opinion or computer algorithms, are far for being random, therefore they capture some element of reality."
-- András Schubert, International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics Newsletter
"Ranking -- of buildings, cities, persons, achievements, institutions or anything else, this listmania might seem to be the brainchild of our computer age. No, teaches us Péter Érdi, it is more ancient than mankind and is rooted in the process of evolution. This book, written in an informal style making an easy and entertaining reading, summarizes the history, sociology, use and abuse of ranking showing also its logical and ethical snags.
The author expounds the questions but, instead of giving straight answers, he rather ponders the problems. That is how he compels his readers to think and opine."
-- Robert Schiller, Természet Világa
"Written by the cybernetician Peter Erdi, [the book] masters to combine cognitive insights about the why and how rankings are so important in natural (and probably also artificial) societies with the wide-spectrum phenomenon called the "ranking game": a game (sometimes a zero-sum one) shaped by the societal evolution and investing themes and arguments ranging from social psychology to computer science and from network theory to political science and cultural
(self) organization. The book is engaging, easily readable and presents with clear and simple words (it is not only directed to scientists but to the general public) such a game by exploring, in its nine
chapters, each of its multifaceted dimensions."
-- Cognitive Systems Research
"As a reputed scientist and a teacher in complex systems, it is perhaps not surprising that Erdi deftly handles the extremely vast and complex theories of ranking and rating, and how they impact our everyday lives. This serious issue is well-narrated with engrossing anecdotal examples, and a generous dose of (subtle) humor and will resonate with professionals and scholars from all walks of life, a must-read."
-- Frontiers in Psychology
Reviews of translated editions of Ranking: The Unwritten Rules of the Social Games We All Play:
"Nowadays, accountability and transparency are emphasized, and society and companies tilt towards measurement and evaluation based on quantified index, including the use of ranking and pursuit of objectivity. This book touches on challenges of being objective consistently, but it does not deny the effectiveness of quantified index. The author advocates the rule of "trust, but carefully", and this is exactly the behaviour pattern that is required in digital
society."
-- Yomiuri Newspaper - Japan, Translated by Takami Norikazu
"Probably we will cope with numerical estimations even more. Therefore, the author recommends that one should change the attitude of "not caring about evaluations." Whether you like it or not, evaluations are something one needs to self-manage. This book delineates such times and people who sustains the times."
-- Asahi Newspaper - Japan, Translated by Noriko Sugimori
"This book showcases not only theories that are based on rankings mentioned above, but also findings and discussions from human behaviours, cognition, social psychology, politics, computational neuroscience. Among a wide variety of theories introduced in this book, I have found the discussion of this bounded rationality the most interesting. The second best is 'impossibility theorem' in social selection. The third best is 'comparability criteria', which
discussed the relationship between qualitative difference and quantitative difference. Of course, this ranking is based on this reviewer's subjective criteria."
--Nikkei Newspaper - Japan, Translated by Noriko Sugimori
"The author's point is that, if AI progresses, it is fine for us to accept their various recommendations discreetly and optimistically, rather than our making an active role in choosing anything. This book correctly points out the trends in contemporary society, in which AI takes the role of meddling replacing blood relations, local community relations, or company ties."
-- Toyo Keizai Magazine, by Hashimoto Tsutomu, Professor, Hokkaido University Graduate School, Translated by Noriko Sugimori
Les mer
